Object number
75/121
Description
This is a beetle, a heavy wooden mallet used in a similar manner to a sledge hammer. The handle is made from a piece of knotted wood with the bark still on, and the head consists of a log which has been bound with a strip of metal at either end. The beetle is said to have been used in the Reading area, Berkshire.
Physical description
1 mallet: wood; metal; fair condition
Label Text
<DIV STYLE="text-align:Justify;font-family:Georgia;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;font-size:16;color:#000000;"><P><SPAN><SPAN>7. <B>Hedger's mallet</B><P> This is a more conventionally-shaped mallet with a barrel-shaped head bound at each end with an iron band for support. It was used for hammering securely into the ground the stakes around which the hedge would be laid. This one was used in Berkshire.<P> 75/121</SPAN></SPAN></P></DIV>
Archival history
MERL Catalogue Form (temporary) – ‘Object name: Beetle // Class: FENCING Hedge // … // Notes: Said to have been used in the Reading area. Handle a rod (still with bark on). Knotty wood. Hole (diam.) though which the rod is driven straight through “head” of beetle which is a log bound at end by a metal band that is nailed through the wood. There are other nail heads around the centre of the beetle head. I do not know for what purpose’
Object name
Material
Associated subject
External document
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_13274.tif - High resolution image
